Cowboys RB DeMarco Murray had another big game against the Rams on Sunday. / Matthew Emmons, USA TODAY Sports

by Lindsay H. Jones, USA TODAY Sports

by Lindsay H. Jones, USA TODAY Sports

ARLINGTON, Texas - Even as his Dallas Cowboys rollicked to a 31-7 win over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday afternoon, Jerry Jones wouldn't dare let himself peer outside of his suite at AT&T Stadium to check the out-of-town scoreboard for a peak around the NFC East.

What the Cowboys owner saw on his home field should have told him plenty: Dallas is the best team in the division, and right now, it isn't even close.

The Cowboys (2-1) were the only NFC East team to win in Week 3 and moved one game ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles, who lost Thursday night, and two ahead of the winless New York Giants and Washington Redskins.

For a team that hasn't made the playoffs since 2009 and is coming off back-to-back 8-8 seasons, any division lead, at any point in the season, is an important one for the Cowboys.

"Before we start putting the dirt on the coffin, figuratively speaking, I think we better wait and see some more games played," Jones said. "This division could turn out to be as strong as horse radish. It's early."

Fine, it is early. But if the Cowboys can put together more all-around dominant performances like they did against the Rams, it won't really matter if the Eagles master Chip Kelly's offense and solve their defensive issues, or if Robert Griffin III recaptures his rookie form for the Redskins, or if Eli Manning stops throwing interceptions and starts throwing touchdowns for the Giants.

"Whenever they lose and we win that's a good thing. But it's so early in the season, I think you can't pay too much attention to it," Cowboys tight end Jason Witten said of the standings. "You're trying to establish an identity of the way you want to play. ... We don't want to be a .500 team, and we have to go show it."

Sunday, the Cowboys showed their most balanced offensive performance of the season. They received 175 rushing yards from DeMarco Murray, three touchdown passes from Tony Romo and a smothering defensive effort that included six sacks and a forced fumble.

Among those six sacks were a pair from defensive end DeMarcus Ware, the 114th and 115th of his career, enabling to surpass Harvey Martin for the franchise record.

Technically, Ware has been the franchise sack leader since 2011, when he surpassed Jim Jeffcoat's total of 94½. But Martin racked up 114 sacks between 1973-1983. Sacks did not become an official NFL statistic until 1982.

Now Ware has topped them all -Martin, Randy White and Ed "Too Tall" Jones, et al.

"To have the opportunity to be etched a long with those names, it feels great. But you always think about, what's next?" Ware said.

If Ware didn't want to be too reflective, Jones was happy to do it.

"I can't say that it's unexpected because of how hard he works and his talent level and just his competitiveness," Jones said. "Doesn't surprise me at all."

It was Murray's first 100-yard rushing game since opening day of the 2012 season. Two years ago, as a rookie, he set a team record by torching the Rams for 253 yards on the ground.

The challenge now is for the Cowboys to not become "roller coaster team," defensive tackle Jason Hatcher said. That was his impassioned message to his teammates earlier in the week.

Hatcher didn't want to rehash his speech, but Jones called the message "inspirational." It resonated in the locker room, teammates said, and carried over to Sunday. When the game was over, Hatcher again stood in front of his 52 teammates and said they had made him proud.

"You've got to be passionate about playing, and obviously he's playing really well. To see those guys take ownership, it sets the tone," Witten said of Hatcher. "It's good to have another voice back there, especially this year, with as well as he's playing. I have a lot of respect for him."